Emily Sweeney

This book chronicles the incredible life of Dr. John "Dropkick" Murphy, a professional wrestler who put himself through medical school during the Great Depression and then opened Bellows Farm, an infamous detox center where alcoholics would go to sober up discreetly.

Gangsters have played a shady role in shaping Greater Boston’s history. While lurking in local restaurants or just around the corner inside that inconspicuous building, countless criminals have quietly made their mark on the city and surrounding communities. Gangland Boston reveals the hidden history of these places, bringing readers back in time to when the North End was wrought with gun violence, Hanover Street was known as a “shooting gallery,” and guys named King Solomon, Beano Breen, and… Show more

Gangsters have played a shady role in shaping Greater Boston’s history. While lurking in local restaurants or just around the corner inside that inconspicuous building, countless criminals have quietly made their mark on the city and surrounding communities. Gangland Boston reveals the hidden history of these places, bringing readers back in time to when the North End was wrought with gun violence, Hanover Street was known as a “shooting gallery,” and guys named King Solomon, Beano Breen, and Mickey the Wiseguy ruled the underworld.

Drawing upon years of research and an extensive collection of rare photographs, I shed light on how gang violence unfolded during Prohibition, how the Italian mafia rose to power, and how the Gustin Gang came to be.

From South Boston to Somerville, Chinatown to Charlestown, and every neighborhood in between, readers will get to know mobsters in ways they never have before, and find out the exact addresses where mobsters lived, worked, and played around Greater Boston. Show less

Boston has had its share of bookies and loan sharks, gangsters and wiseguys, hoodlums and hit men. From the Great Brink's Robbery, which was hailed as the crime of the century; to the long-forgotten Cotton Club in Roxbury, where the legendary nightlife kingpin Charlie King Solomon was gunned down; to the infamous Blackfriars Massacre, a brutal gangland slaying that left five men dead, slumped over a backgammon game in a cramped basement office—all of these dark moments in time are a part of… Show more

Boston has had its share of bookies and loan sharks, gangsters and wiseguys, hoodlums and hit men. From the Great Brink's Robbery, which was hailed as the crime of the century; to the long-forgotten Cotton Club in Roxbury, where the legendary nightlife kingpin Charlie King Solomon was gunned down; to the infamous Blackfriars Massacre, a brutal gangland slaying that left five men dead, slumped over a backgammon game in a cramped basement office—all of these dark moments in time are a part of Boston's history that is rarely spoken about. Boston Organized Crime explores the region's shadier side and takes a closer look at the mobsters and racketeers who once operated in the Greater Boston area. Drawing upon an eclectic collection of crime scene photographs, mug shots, and police documents, author Emily Sweeney takes readers on an eye-opening journey through Boston's underworld, from the bootlegging days of Prohibition to the bloody gangland wars of the 1960s. Show less